I decided to become an author when my grandmother taught me to write, when I was six. I can still recall the sensation of being able to turn words into stories. It was a miracle. Henning Mankell More Quotes by Henning Mankell More Quotes From Henning Mankell Many people say I smile more in Africa than in Sweden. Henning Mankell i-smile sweden people I am not afraid of dying. I have lived longer than most people in the world. What scares me is to have a body that works but a brain that is waving goodbye. If that happens, I hope I die quickly. Henning Mankell brain goodbye people It’s only when we can work with something that brings out our strengths that we’re of any real use. Henning Mankell self-fulfillment real use They pondered the importance of coffee in silence. Henning Mankell importance coffee silence Some people give theirselves a certain number of white weeks once in a year, when they do not drink a single drop of alcohol. It is really wise. I myself have a few weeks per year, let us call them white or black, when I am not interested in the world around. When I come back from this isolation of the news, I realize that I have missed nothing significant. We live in the rain of disinformation and rumors, where the truth is a very small number. In those weeks of dissociation I seek for knowledge that lies within me. Henning Mankell wise rain lying Each person searches for the most beautiful jump which will be the final before leaving this world. Henning Mankell finals leaving beautiful As a writer, I am an intellectual. I believe in the ideals of the Enlightenment, I believe in the written word, in dialogue and in truth. I hate lies more than anything else. Most of the time I react by writing. Henning Mankell hate believe lying I work in an old tradition that goes back to the ancient Greeks. You hold a mirror to crime to see what's happening in society. I could never write a crime story just for the sake of it, because I always want to talk about certain things in society. Henning Mankell mirrors greek writing Sweden is still a very peaceful country to live in. I think that people in Britain have created this mythology about Sweden, that it's a perfect democratic society full of erotically charged girls. Henning Mankell girl country thinking I can still remember. I was ill, and I was seven, and my father didn't want me to just read children's books. He came with Conan Doyle. I tried, and I liked it. I think the first I read was 'The Sign of the Four'; 'Study in Scarlet' was the next one. Then I guess I stayed home a few extra days from school to read. Henning Mankell father book children Although I never marched through the streets shouting for Mao, I do believe that the liberation of China at the end of the 1940s was a wonderful thing and to provide its people with a billion pairs of shoes and trousers was a fantastic achievement. Henning Mankell shoes believe people Poverty always looks the same, no matter where you come across it. The rich can always express their opulence by varying their lives. Different houses, clothes, cars. Or thoughts, dreams. But for the poor there is nothing but compulsory grayness, the only form of expression available to poverty. Henning Mankell clothes expression dream Although many of his other novels are brilliant there is a power in 'Oliver Twist' that I believe Dickens never managed to retrieve. It is as if he was sent to this earth with the sole purpose of writing this book. Henning Mankell writing believe book At the time of independence in 1975, Mozambique was extremely poor. Many Portuguese residents abandoned the country, leaving only a handful of well-educated Mozambicans to try to run the country. Henning Mankell leaving running country You think you know everything about a person, but the truth often comes as a surprise. Henning Mankell you-think-you-know surprise thinking One of the agonies of being an author is to know when to stop writing. Henning Mankell agony knows writing Shakespeare is in many ways an African writer and 'Hamlet' would be seen as a very accurate historical saga about an African kingdom. Henning Mankell historical kingdoms would-be Children get acquainted with each other in a special way, they do not make contracts as adults, they believe each other or not. Childish friendships often end in violence. You may become an enemy all of a sudden as well as notice that you are someone's best friend. Henning Mankell believe children enemy I came to Mozambique in 1986, when I first became involved with Teatro Avenida - a theatre company that stages plays concerned with political and social issues. Henning Mankell issues political play Police work wouldn't be possible without coffee. Henning Mankell police-work police coffee
